Terminals for strands and ropes

ABSTRACT

A wire rope or strand is inserted into a bore in a metal terminal blank having an elongate body, a collar at one extremity, and a transitional neck portion merging with the collar. The neck portion has a rounded peripheral depression, which aids plastic flow during reduction. The cross-section of the terminal blank is reduced by swaging or pressing only its body, so that the body grips the rope or strand. The collar has a bearing surface which is directed away from the body and is intended to support a load which puts the rope under tension. When a load is applied to the bearing surface the terminal is under longitudinal compression.

United States Patent 119 Mason Aug. 26, 1975 TERMINALS FOR STRANDS AND ROPES 2,832,816 4/1958 Curtiss 403/285 [75] Inventor: Thomas Ernest Mason, Doncaster, OTHER PUBLICATIONS England IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, D. A. Marquis, [73] Assignee: Bridon Limited, Doncaster, England 5, 1 -1 1962- lzz] Filed: July 1974 Primary ExaminerRobert L. Wolfe [21] Appl. No.: 489,476 Assistant Examinerl(enneth J. Dorner An ,A 1, F -J h ,D' Related US. Application Data & {gg i or enner Emnch [63] Continuation of Scr. No. 265.560, June 23, 1972,

abandoned. ABSTRACT Foreign A li ti p i Data A wire rope or strand is inserted into a bore in a metal Jul 2 971 United Kin dom 31026! terminal blank having an elongate body, a collar at y g one extremity, and a transitional neck portion merging [52] U S Cl 403/78 24/115 403/165 with the collar. The neck portion has a rounded pe- 403/274 ripheral depression, which aids plastic flow during re- [51] Int Cl 2 I F166 "/02 duction. The cross-section of the terminal blank is re- 58 Field of Search 24/129 w, 114.5 D A- duced by aging Pressing only its bdY1 that the 403/ 78 body grips the rope or strand. The collar has a bearing surface which is directed away from the body and is [36] References Cited intended to support a load which puts the rope under tension. When a load is applied to the bearing surface UNlTED STATES PATENTS the terminal is under longitudinal compression. 1,643,150 9 1927 Conner 24/123 R 1.786.081 12 1930 Noursc 403/165 4 Clam, 13 Drawmg Flgul'es l7 A A I 3 Ml 1 W l --19 l Nil \l 1 kill. 2

TERMINALS FOR STRANDS AND ROPES This application is a continuation of co-pending application Ser; No.- 265,560fTerminals for Strands and Ropes of Thomas Ernest Mason, filed June 23, 1972 and now abandoned.

'This invention relates to terminals for use in conjunc tion with wire strands and ropes. 1

Plain barrel or stud swaged terminals to form end or intermediary stops for strands or ropes taking a load as compressive forces on the inner face of the terminal are known, but these are deficient in their ability to take the full load of the rope or strand and distribute the forces uniformly over the face of the terminal, or are restricted to the simpler applications by reason of their bulk.

The present invention provides a metal terminal reduced onto a wirerope or wire strand, the terminal having an elongate body, a collar at one extremity, and a transitional neck portion merging with the collar and integrally connecting the collar to the body, the neck portion having a single rounded peripheral depression which aids plastic flow during reduction, the body only having been uniformly reduced onto the rope or strand along the whole length of the body, and uniformly gripping the rope or strand, the collar having a bearing surface which is directed away from the body and which extends from the outer periphery to the inner periphery of the collar, the inner periphery of the collar and transitional neck portion being adjacent to the rope or strand and not gripping it, whereby when a load is applied to the bearing surface to put the rope or strand under tension the terminal is put under longitudinal compression.

The peripheral depression, between the part which is to be reduced and the part which is to be left in the form of a collar, aids plastic flow during reduction, which can be carried out by swaging or, preferably, pressingin a suitable die set. The depression can be provided, for example, by casting the blank with a depression or by machining.

The collar may be circular, oval', square. rectangular, or any other convenient section, depending on the intended use of the terminal. Also, the bearing surface may be flat, sloping, or curved. It is advantageous to subject the collar to localised heat treatment, for instance to improve hardness, or resistance to impact or shear.

When the terminal is located within the fitting the whole bearing surface of the collar of the terminal makes contact with a corresponding bearing surface within the fitting.

The invention will be described further, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal on the end of a rope;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the terminal of FIG. I, located within a spade lug socket which is shown in cross-section;

FIG. 3 is a cut-away perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 to 6 are fragmentary side elevations of various terminals located within sockets which are shown in cross-section;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a crane jib;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a detail of FIG. 7, on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a terminal combined with an anchorage fitting;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the fitting of a terminal to a crane hook;

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a terminal fitted'into a carrying block;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an assembly which joins two ropes end to end; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of part of a fitting in which a terminal is locked.

The terminal illustrated is of carbon steel, alloy steel (e.g. stainless steel), or non-ferrous metal. As seen for example in FIG. 1, the terminal has an elongate cylindrical body 1 and a collar 5 at one end having a cylindrical surface 6. A transitional neck portion between the body and collar has a single circumferential rounded depression 3 and merges with the collar 5. The terminal has a through-bore 2 which receives the end of .a steel wire rope 14. The rope extends from the end of the terminal remote from the body portion 1; the end of the rope projects from the other end of the terminal.

The terminal is formed on the rope 14 as follows. The terminal blank used is similar in shape to the terminal shown in FIG. 1. Since it is later to be reduced in diameter, the body portion can, however, be the same diameter as the collar portion, or even slightly larger. Ifno circumferential depression is present, one may be machined in the blank. The blank has a parallel-sided bore drilled slightly larger than the ropediameter.

The rope 14 is cleanly severed and is threaded through the bore. The body portion is then reduced in diameter along its'whole length with uniform radial pressure by swaging or pressing. Sufficient reduction is performed to cause the inner wall of the bore 2 in the body 1 to deform plastically and flow into the interstitial gaps 11 in the surface of the rope 14, so that the rope is gripped securely by the body alone. The part 4 of the bore within the collar 5 does not grip therope firmly, since the collar remains undeformed.

The collar 5 may at any stage in the above process be subjected to heat treatment to improve its hardness or resistance to impact or shear.

The rope may be anchored to, or fitted with, various ancilliary fittings by means of the terminal. The end surface 17 of the collar 5, extending from its outer periphery to its inner periphery adjacent the rope, forms a bearing surface carrying the load applied by the fitting which will put the rope 14 into tension and the terminal into longitudinal compression. FIGS. 2 and 3 show the terminal fitted with a spade lug socket l2 having a pair of arms 19 with opposed holes 20 through which a locking pin 21 extends. The socket 12 has a lateral slot 13 which allows the rope 14 to be positioned in a central hole 15 which opens into a recess 16 in the socket. The terminal is received by this recess 16 and the bearing surface 17 of its collar 5 bears against the contoured upper face 18 of the recess 16 when traction is applied to the rope 14.

The terminal shown in FIG. 4 has a bevelled collar 5 with a truncated conical bearing surface 7 resting against the correspondingly shaped surface 18 of the recess 16 in the socket 12. In FIG. 5 the collar 5 has a part-spherical bearing surface 8, which allows some rocking of the socket 12 relative to the terminal.

lt will be noted that, when the terminals shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are substantially unloaded the socket 12 is free to rotate on the terminal. In some circumstances this is undesirable, and in this case a non-circular collar is used, such as an oval collar. FIG. 6 shows a terminal with a square or rectangular collar 9.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the use of the terminal as an anchorage for the outgoing end of a rope l4 mul tireeved on a crane jib 35. The terminal is fitted into a socket 12 (FIG. 8) as described above, and the socket is connected to the jib 35 by a pin. FIG. 9 shows an alternative form of socket 12a for the same purpose. The arms 19 of the socket are integral with a sideplate 36 which is fixed to the crane jib. FIG. 10 illustrates the fitting of a rope terminal in a crane hook having a socket similar to that described above.

FIG. 11 illustrates the fitting of a rope terminal in a block 23 for use on bulk cargo containers. The block 23 is somewhat similar to the sockets described above and has a stepped recess 16 which receives the terminal from one end and which receives the rope 14 through a lateral slot 13. The block 23 bears a pair of trunnions 24a, 24b each terminated by a semicircular flange 25a, 25b. The flanged trunnions 24a, 24b are inserted through circular apertures 26a, 26b in a pair of arms 27a, 27b and are pressed down into radiused slots 37a, 37b in which they are effectively locked by their flanges 25a, 25b.

FlG. 12 shows the connection of two rope terminals by means of a connector 38 consisting of two slotted cross-pieces 29a, 29b connected by a pair of parallel rods 30 between which the terminals lie end to end. The cross-pieces are similar to the sockets described above. The adjacent ends of the terminal bodies are a force fit in a cylindrical sleeve 28 which minimises relative movement of the terminals.

FIG. 13 illustrates a way of locking the terminal in a fitting as a safety precaution, which is applicable to all the embodiments described above. The socket 12 has a bore 31 which traverses the slot 13 and receives a bolt 32 having a threaded end 33 on which a nut 34 'is screwed.

I claim:

1. A load bearing assembly comprising a metal terminal adapted to be reduced onto a wire rope or wire strand, said terminal having an elongate body, a collar at one extremity of said body, a transitional neck portion merging with said collar and integrally connecting the collar to said body, said neck portion having a single rounded peripheral depression which is of smaller diameter than said body and said collar for permitting plastic flow of said elongated body on said wire rope or strand upon reduction, said body only being uniformly reduced onto the rope or strand along the length of said body for uniformly gripping the rope or strand, said collar having a bearing surface which is directed away from said body and which extends from the outer periphery to the inner periphery of said collar, the inner periphery of said collar and said transitional neck portion being adapted to be disposed adjacent to the rope or strand in spaced relation to the latter, and a fitting having a cavity which receives said terminal, the fitting having a bearing surface which bears against the bearing surface of said collar when the rope or strand is under tension, whereby the terminal is put under longitudinal compression.

2. A metal terminal adapted to be reduced onto a wire rope or wire strand, said terminal having an elongate body, a collar at one extremity of said body, and a transitional neck portion merging with said collar and integrally connecting said collar to said body, said neck than having a single rounded peripheral depression of smaller diameter then said body and said collar for permitting plastic flow upon reduction of said elongate body onto said rope or strand, said body only being uniformly reduced onto the rope or strand along the whole length of the body for uniformly gripping the rope or strand, said collar having a bearing surface which is directed away from said body and extending from the outer periphery to the inner periphery of the collar, the inner periphery of said collar and said transitional neck portion adjacent to the rope or strand being spaced therefrom when said body is reduced onto said rope or strand, whereby when a load is applied to the bearing surface to put the rope or strand under tension the terminal is put under longitudinal compression.

3. A terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the collar has a'circular profile.

4. A terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body is cylindrical. 

1. A load bearing assembly comprising a metal terminal adapted to be reduced onto a wire rope or wire strand, said terminal having an elongate body, a collar at one extremity of said body, a transitional neck portion merging with said collar and integrally connecting the collar to said body, said neck portion having a single rounded peripheral depression which is of smaller diameter than said body and said collar for permitting plastic flow of said elongated body on said wire rope or strand upon reduction, said body only being uniformly reduced onto the rope or strand along the length of said body for uniformly gripping the rope or strand, said collar having a bearing surface which is directed away from said body and which extends from the outer periphery to the inner periphery of said collar, the inner periphery of said collar and said transitional neck portion being adapted to be disposed adjacent to the rope or strand in spaced relation to the latter, and a fitting having a cavity which receives said terminal, the fitting having a bearing surface which bears against the bearing surface of said collar when the rope or strand is under tension, whereby the terminal is put under longitudinal compression.
 2. A metal terminal adapted to be reduced onto a wire rope or wire strand, said terminal having an elongate body, a collar at one extremity of said body, and a transitional neck portion merging with said collar and integrally connecting said collar to said body, said neck than having a single rounded peripheral depression of smaller diameter then said body and said collar for permitting plastic flow upon reduction of said elongate body onto said rope or strand, said body only being uniformly reduced onto the rope or strand along the whole length of the body for uniformly gripping the rope or strand, said collar having a bearing surfAce which is directed away from said body and extending from the outer periphery to the inner periphery of the collar, the inner periphery of said collar and said transitional neck portion adjacent to the rope or strand being spaced therefrom when said body is reduced onto said rope or strand, whereby when a load is applied to the bearing surface to put the rope or strand under tension the terminal is put under longitudinal compression.
 3. A terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the collar has a circular profile.
 4. A terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body is cylindrical. 